Complaints erupt over agency director's salary

Head man at Albemarle Mental Health retired, then took on the job as a contractor -- then got a raise, plus his pension

RALEIGH -- Charlie Franklin runs a regional mental health agency in northeastern North Carolina that serves some of the poorest counties in the state. His taxpayer-funded salary is $319,000 a year, plus a $1,000-a-month car allowance and expenses for mileage, meals and hotels.

Franklin's pay package so alarmed state Senate leaders that they passed legislation last week, as part of their version of the budget, that would rein in the pay for jobs like his.

The controversy over Franklin's pay is symptomatic of a lack of oversight of local mental health authorities across the state, some state officials say. Senate leaders have also drafted legislation requiring a more thorough accounting of how local mental health agencies spend their money.

State Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat who chairs the mental health oversight committee, cautioned that such situations are not unique to mental health. "Somebody gets greedy and can make a lot of money off a situation," he said. "They have the political clout to get what they want, and it makes the whole system look bad."

The commissioners of Pasquotank County, a coastal county served by Albemarle Mental Health, have asked the state auditor to investigate the propriety of how Franklin's salary was set. The auditor is doing so.

And an administrative law judge ruled last month that Franklin had not actually retired and switched to being a contractor in 2005. Because of that, he was not entitled to receive both his contractor's income and his state pension, as Franklin had argued after collecting $157,000 in pension checks over 13 months. The judge also ruled that the contract under which Franklin is now working was void from the moment it was signed.

Neither Franklin nor James "Pete" Dail of Edenton, chairman of the mental health center's board that set Franklin's salary, returned telephone messages last week.

Chris Shigas, an executive with a Raleigh public relations firm, French/West/Vaughan, responded on behalf of the center, saying employee salaries follow state guidelines. Shigas' firm is expected to begin a six-month, $30,000 contract with Albemarle Mental Health for an education campaign, he said.

More pay than Easley

To put Franklin's pay in perspective, Gov. Mike Easley makes $131,000.

Mecklenburg County's mental health director, Grayce Crockett, runs a system that handled 35,200 clients last year, more than seven times as many as the 4,700 treated by the Albemarle system. But Crockett makes $142,000, less than half of Franklin's salary.

And Crockett's is just slightly less than the $143,000 salary of Franklin's special assistant, Linda Triplett, a 35-year agency veteran who has a high school diploma but no college degree.

"A lot of that resource money could go to help people in the area," said Marshall Stevenson, a Pasquotank County commissioner.

Covering 6 counties

The Albemarle Mental Health Center encompasses much of the coastal, northeastern corner of the state: Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties. Three of those counties -- Chowan, Pasquotank and Perquimans -- fall into the bottom third of N.C. counties for median household income, according to census data.

The agency's administrative functions are funded largely through state money and some federal funds. Franklin supervises an administrative staff of no more than 60, state officials said. Shigas, the public relations executive handling Albemarle questions, said the agency's board recommends salaries that are then approved by the Office of State Personnel.